Eisenhower Greeted by 10,000 at Laird Stadium in 1952

Just two months shy of being elected president of the United States, Ike Eisenhower gave the only college address of his campaign in Northfield.

The largest crowd ever assembled for an event in Northfield was on Sept. 16, 1952, when Carleton’s Laird Stadium was stretched beyond its 9,000 seat capacity to more than 10,000 in order to accommodate an audience for a speech by Dwight D. Eisenhower, Republican candidate for president. Seating spilled out onto the track and the stadium reverberated not with cries of “First and ten, do it again,” but “I Like Ike!” Carleton’s president Laurence Gould commented, “This is the first time that both the Carls and the Oles have been in this stadium yelling for the same thing.”

It was Eisenhower’s last visit to Minnesota before the general election of Nov. 4 and his only college address. The speech was delivered to farmers, businessmen and other townspeople, but with an emphasis on younger voters. Clifford Stiles, a Carleton senior, had invited “Ike” through the Carleton Republican Club. Besides St. Olaf and Carleton, 14 other colleges from around the state sent car caravans and busloads of students.

A reception committee met General and Mrs. Eisenhower and their party of congressmen and other dignitaries, who arrived in an 18-car train, at the Northfield station. The committee included the presidents of Carleton and St. Olaf (Dr. Clemens Granskou and Dr. Larry Gould), selected college students, Republican chairpersons and mayor Oakey Jackson of Northfield. Mrs. Eisenhower was given a bouquet of flowers.

Most businesses in town closed in the morning so all could go to the event. Crowds lined the streets to see the Eisenhowers riding in a red convertible from the depot across the Third Street Bridge and down S. Division Street to the stadium. The Carletonian college newspaper reported: “Students, faculty and Republican-minded citizens of Minnesota flocked into Laird Stadium, joining the colorful and exhilarated throng. Bands representative of the various area high schools performed on the field as cheerleaders from Carleton and Macalester and three St. Olaf trumpeters led the crowd in an ‘I Like Ike’ cheer.” The bands came from Cannon Falls, Faribault, Farmington, Hastings and Northfield and the Northfield Male Chorus entertained. Carleton freshmen sold campaign buttons, ties, banners and hats to cover rally expenses and St. Olaf and Carleton lettermen ran refreshment booths.

While crowds have welcomed presidents to Northfield at least nine times since 1908, this enthusiastic crowd of more than 10,000 welcoming Dwight David Eisenhower on Sept. 16, 1952, was by far the largest.

Dr. Gould served as master of ceremonies and Eisenhower was introduced by Northfield’s own U.S. Senator Edward J. Thye. Gov. C. Elmer Anderson and other important political figures were on the platform. Joining St. Olaf and Carleton students in the audience were representatives from Augsburg, Concordia, Gustavus Adolphus, Hamline, Macalester, Mankato State Teachers’, St. Catherine, St. Cloud Teachers’, St. John’s, St. Thomas, Duluth University, Winona State Teachers’ and Worthington Junior College. One hundred cars came from the University of Minnesota alone.

Eisenhower’s opening comment was, “My very good friends, and you must be my friends, otherwise I don’t see how both St. Olaf and Carleton could have turned out here together,” which drew from the crowd what the Northfield News described as a “healthy laugh.” Eisenhower went on to compare the American and Communist ways and said, “If you can by co-operation show that you can outdo, outthink, outwork and outlearn any dictatorship that has ever existed no matter what its force, you will have done your part.” The Northfield News noted, “Wild cheers at the conclusion of his talk moved the general to remark, ‘This is the dandiest meeting I’ve had in a long time.’” The Carletonian summarized Eisenhower’s speech: “The General praised the part that the small college is playing in preserving the greatest value of a free America and called the small college ‘one of the greatest symbols of a free America.’” The radio broadcast of the speech was carried over WCCO in Minneapolis, WCAL of St. Olaf and KARL of Carleton and was “kinescoped” over CBS-TV for later broadcast.

After the speech, The Carletonian quoted a St. Olaf letterman as saying, “Eisenhower displayed great foresight in coming to speak to us college students. His interest in the youth vote is shown through this part of the campaign.” One St. Olaf student, however, said, “We can’t take a chance on a Republican candidate now” and five men from Rosemount said they did not like his policies and “he does a lot of talking without saying much.” An Augsburg student said, “It’s wonderful that the colleges have the opportunity to get together and hear Ike. We do need a change in the two-party system. He is the only one who can bring us through, considering present world circumstances, for he is the best.” (Eisenhower’s popularity can be seen in a later presidential poll of Carleton students which showed Eisenhower was favored by 75.9 per cent of the vote to Adlai Stevenson’s 24.1 per cent.)

The Northfield News reported, “A genuinely warm and human American with his charming wife gave Northfield a day that will long be remembered.” Ike and Mamie Eisenhower “captured the hearts of many Northfielders. Ike got in his licks with a firm handshake, an inspiring look and a sincere interest in the people he came in contact with. His wife Mamie charmed as many with her sweet smile and warm ‘hello’s.’”

Just before the caravan of cars left to take the Eisenhowers back to the depot, the Northfield News account said that “swarms of people” gathered around the car to shake hands with both Ike and Mamie. Among those swarms were two very excited 12-year-old Northfield boys. Dan Freeman described their experience in this way:

“I was there with my buddy Doug Westerlund. We sat up into the wee hours of the morning that day working on a WE LIKE IKE sign. It was on a sheet and was about five feet by ten feet. Sadly, when we held it up in the stadium, we blocked several peoples’ view of the proceedings. One of the security people came to us and brought us down to the track where we could lift it without blocking anyone’s view. After Ike finished his talk, the same security fellow brought us over to Ike and he signed our sheet right after he sat down in the back seat of the convertible. I have hunted high and low for that autograph without any success and I now believe it got thrown out by someone way back in the ’50s.”

Presidents Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, Ford, Carter, Clinton and Obama have also visited Northfield (see below), but even Clinton, who gave a commencement address at Carleton when he was president in 2000, did not speak to a crowd as large as the one proclaiming “I Like Ike!” at Laird Stadium in 1952.

Thanks to Eric Hillemann of the Carleton Archives for information and photos of Eisenhower’s visit and to Jeff Sauve of the St. Olaf Archives for additional research assistance. Thanks also to Dan Freeman for his memory of the day “Ike” came to Northfield.